Kia Soul EV Heads To South Africa

Already available in South Korea, parts of Europe and in California in the U.S., Kia is now taking its Soul EV into South Africa where Kia South Africa has “imported an early test unit to gauge interest and trial it in local conditions.”

As IOL Motoring states:

“Korean carmaker Kia has put up its hand to say it also wants in on the fully-electric car game which has up until now been dominated by German and Japanese brands.”

Up until now, the majority of EVs sold in South Africa have been Nissan LEAFs and BMW i3s. Kia is hoping to make EV inroads in South Africa with its Soul EV.

IOL Motoring had some seat time driving the Soul EV. Here’s a brief recap of the test-drive results:

“My short test drive early this week revealed much of the same characteristics as other electric vehicles we’ve tested – namely a plush ride due to heavy batteries, punchy acceleration thanks to instant torque from the electric motor, and a hushed cabin for obvious reasons.”

Kia South Africa hopes to formally launch the Soul EV sometime in 2015.